“Often people do not know that their stove might take a lot of power and running that could cost them a lot on their monthly bill,” says Chris Tumpach, President of Rainforest Automation that makes the gadget.

Simi Heer with BC Hydro says their customers can access their electricity use information online.

“But this device provides the information in real-time, so you are able to see what the impact of doing laundry is on your energy bill or what happens when you turn on your lights,” says Heer.

Tumpach says getting historical power use information online is not necessarily sufficient.

“Online, you can see what happened yesterday. But you have no idea what is happening right now,” he says. “It is really hard to change your habit, this way you can adjust things before you get billed on it.”